Most consumers have come to expect scented laundry products and to expect that fabrics which have been laundered also to have a pleasing fragrance. Perfume additives make laundry compositions more aesthetically pleasing to the consumer, and in some cases the perfume imparts a pleasant fragrance to fabrics treated therewith. However, the amount of perfume carryover from an aqueous laundry bath onto fabrics is often marginal. Industry, therefore, has long searched for an effective perfume delivery system for use in laundry products which provides long-lasting, storage-stable fragrance to the product, as well as fragrance to the laundered fabrics.
Laundry and other fabric care compositions which contain perfume mixed with or sprayed onto the compositions are well known from commercial practice. Because perfumes are made of a combination of volatile compounds, perfume can be continuously emitted from simple solutions and dry mixes to which the perfume has been added. Various techniques have been developed to hinder or delay the release of perfume from compositions so that they will remain aesthetically pleasing for a longer length of time. To date, however, few of the methods deliver significant fabric odor benefits after prolonged storage of the product.
Moreover, there has been a continuing search for methods and compositions which will effectively and efficiently deliver perfume from a laundry bath onto fabric surfaces. As can be seen from the following disclosures, various methods of perfume delivery have been developed involving protection of the perfume through the wash cycle, with release of the perfume onto fabrics. U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,072, Brock et al, issued Jun. 20, 1978, teaches a method for delivering fabric conditioning agents, including perfume, through the wash and dry cycle via a fatty quaternarynary ammonium salt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,856, Schnoring et al, issued Sep. 6, 1983, teaches a microencapsulation technique which involves the formulation of a shell material which will allow for diffusion of perfume out of the capsule only at certain temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,272, Young, issued May 1, 1979, teaches incorporating perfume into waxy particles to protect the perfume through storage in dry compositions and through the laundry process. The perfume assertedly diffuses through the wax on the fabric in the dryer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,419, Walley et al, issued Nov. 19, 1991, teaches perfume dispersed with a water-insoluble nonpolymeric carrier material and encapsulated in a protective shell by coating with a water-insoluble friable coating material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,761, Trinh et al, issued Mar. 10, 1992, teaches a perfume/cyclodextrin complex protected by clay which provides perfume benefits to at least partially wetted fabrics.
Another method for delivery of perfume in the wash cycle involves combining the perfume with an emulsifier and water-soluble polymer, forming the mixture into particles, and adding them to a laundry composition, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,417, Whyte, issued Jun. 24, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,356, Whyte, issued Jul. 13, 1982; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,760, Gould et al, issued Apr. 27, 1971. However, even with the substantial work done by industry in this area, a need still exists for a simple, more efficient and effective perfume delivery system which can be mixed with laundry compositions to provide initial and lasting perfume benefits to fabrics which have been treated with the laundry product.
The perfume can also be adsorbed onto a porous carrier material, such as a polymeric material, as described in U.K. Pat. Pub. 2,066,839, Bares et al, published Jul. 15, 1981. Perfumes have also been adsorbed onto a clay or zeolite material which is then admixed into particulate detergent compositions. Generally, the preferred zeolites have been Type A or 4A Zeolites with a nominal pore size of approximately 4 Angstrom units. It is now believed that with Zeolite A or 4A, the perfume is adsorbed onto the zeolite surface with relatively little of the perfume actually absorbing into the zeolite pores. While the adsorption of perfume onto zeolite or polymeric carriers may perhaps provide some improvement over the addition of neat perfume admixed with detergent compositions, industry is still searching for improvements in the length of storage time of the laundry compositions without loss of perfume characteristics, in the intensity or amount of fragrance delivered to fabrics, and in the duration of the perfume scent on the treated fabric surfaces.
Combinations of perfumes generally with larger pore size zeolites X and Y are also taught in the art. East German Patent Publication No. 248,508, published Aug. 12, 1987 relates to perfume dispensers (e.g., an air freshener) containing a faujasite-type zeolite (e.g., zeolite X and Y) loaded with perfumes. The critical molecular diameters of the perfume molecules are said to be between 2-8 Angstroms. Also, East German Patent Publication No. 137,599, published Sep. 12, 1979 teaches compositions for use in powdered washing agents to provide thermoregulated release of perfume. Zeolites A, X and Y are taught for use in these compositions. These earlier teachings are repeated in the more recently filed European applications Publication No. 535,942, published Apr. 7, 1993, and Publication No. 536,942, published Apr. 14, 1993, by Unilever PLC, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,665, issued Aug. 9, 1994 to Garner-Gray et al.
Effective perfume delivery compositions are taught by WO 94/28107, published Dec. 8, 1994 by The Procter & Gamble Company. These compositions comprise zeolites having pore size of at least 6 Angstroms (e.g., Zeolite X or Y), perfume releaseably incorporated in the pores of the zeolite, and a matrix coated on the perfumed zeolite comprising a water-soluble (wash removable) composition in which the perfume is substantially insoluble, comprising from 0% to about 80%, by weight, of at least one solid polyol containing more than 3 hydroxyl moieties and from about 20% to about 100%, by weight, of a fluid diol or polyol in which the perfume is substantially insoluble and in which the solid polyol is substantially soluble.
Another problem in providing perfumed products is the odor intensity associated with the products, especially high density granular detergent compositions. As the density and concentration of the detergent composition increase, the odor from the perfume components can become undesirably intense. A need therefore exists for a perfume delivery system which substantially releases the perfume odor during use and thereafter from the dry fabric, but which does not provide an overly-intensive odor to the product itself.
By the present invention it has now been discovered that certain agents, preferably perfume agents, can be selected based on specific selection criteria to maximize impact during and/or after the wash process, while minimizing the amount of agents needed in total to achieve a consumer noticable result. Such compositions are desirable not only for their consumer noticable benefits (e.g., odor aesthetics), but also for their potentially reduced cost through effiecent use of lesser amounts of ingredients.
The present invention solves the long-standing need for a simple, effective, storage-stable delivery system which provides benefits (especially fabric odor benefits) during and after the laundering process. Further, perfume-containing compositions have reduced product odor during storage of the composition. The present invention also provides the additional benefit of continued odor release from laundered fabrics when exposed to heat or humidity while being stored, dried or ironed.